Arsenal Reloaded (Full Metal Superhero Book 8)

by Jeffery H. Haskell

  “In a heartbeat.”

  “Ma’am, if you’ll follow me, we’ll get you released,” the Bailiff says to Tessa.

  She gives me one more hug before allowing herself to be led out. The rest of the team is practically jumping up and down in excitement.

  “I think this calls for drinks,” Kate says with a smile.

  I smile back, but it’s a hollow one. I’m happy for Tessa. Stunned, but happy. She doesn’t deserve to be in jail. With everything else that has happened, though, celebrating feels wrong.

  I know one thing for sure; Luke would have loved this.

  TWO

  While I am not Arsenal anymore, I’m still me. I’ve learned a couple of lessons over the last few years. One, trust no one but myself, my friends, and my team. Two, I can’t always control everything that happens when I’m not around. The Spire is a fantastic base of operations... for a public superhero team.

  Not for me.

  I won’t be going back there as a hero.

  “That one, Epic. What do you think?” I ask my faithful AI as we circle the Arizona desert at two thousand feet. I’m still fully funding the Protectors, and in the interim, Kate is in charge of the team. Maybe forever. I can’t be Arsenal without armor, and I’m not sure I want to go back to having another suit that can be taken away.

  What I really want—what I need—is something akin to my MK IV Animetal suit. In order to get that, I need a place to work. Which is why we’re in an Emjet flying over the northern Arizona desert near the border with Utah.

  Perfect. Tall and wide enough that we can burrow into it without causing any structural damage. Other than a five-foot circular hole in the top to allow Carlos to visit, no one will ever know we are there. Which is good, since this is public land and illegal to build on.

  “If the government would stop stealing my stuff every time I take an extended leave of absence, I would be more concerned about the legality of this. But... a secret mountain base sounds perfect.”

  It also sounds like something a supervillain would do.

  “Maybe I just need to start a new trend. Superheroes with secret places to retreat to when they need solitude.” Not that I have such a place yet. “How long do you think it will take?”

  A week to hollow everything out. Once we have the internal dimensions, we can start casting the support beams and the rest of the internal structure. Are we going with the underground launch facility?

  “Yes. I think a tube that exits a half mile away or so will do. Just large enough for an Emjet. We can build that first, have the supplies brought there, then the workers can transit through the tunnel, constructing as they go. Permits?” I ask as a joke.

  We will have none for the mountain itself, but I will make sure everything is built to exacting specifications. The same contractors who built the Spire will also work on this project.

  I shake my head; he didn’t get it. “Excellent. Make sure they are well compensated for their time. A week to get started, then what?”

  A month until you can move in.

  A whole month. Well, there are worse things to do than live in a five-star hotel in the meantime. “A whole month? Ugh. It’s not like I have armor to use. My flight suit is trashed, all my tools and spare armor are stuck on the other side of a quantum gate I can no longer access. Sure, a month is fine…”

  Do I detect sarcasm.

  I glare at the nearest camera then give him a sweet smile.

  I turn away from the mesa, bringing the plane’s external cameras over to the south to view our legitimate purchase.

  “Last Chance Gas and Go” was abandoned before I was born, but things in the desert tend to hang around until someone tears them down. This old place is no different. Nothing more than a wooden frame and an old sign.

  It’s just over half a mile distance between the old gas station to the mountain we’re going to hollow out. If I make it into a travel plaza with a car wash and large parking lot, no one will notice the extra construction materials. I could even make it a conference center. Financially, it will be a complete loss, but it’s only money.

  “Stealthy, cheap, or awesome, pick two,” I say out loud as we fly over.

  Exactly. Stealthy and awesome it is.

  “All right, Epic, make it so.”

  I will have Milton start making the—

  “No. This is just you and me buddy. For now.”

  Amelia, I created Milton. He is essentially my son. I am sure he will do as good a job as—

  “I said no.” I almost shout. I certainly raise my voice more than I intended. I clamp my mouth shut for a moment and regain some control over my emotions. “I’m not a fan of ordering you to do anything, Epic, and I never will. But Milton betrayed me... us.” I hold up my hand to forestall any further argument. “I know he felt he didn’t have a choice. I might even agree with him. However, my science is out in the world and it’s because he didn’t blow the lab up like he should have. I’m sorry, that’s how I feel. I’m playing this one close to the vest. No more leaks.”

  It hurts to speak to Epic this way. He’s my best friend. I love him more than anyone else in the world, but his creation cost me dearly. I can’t let that happen again.

  I cannot say I fully understand, Amelia. However, you are my friend and I respect your wishes. I will leave Milton out of this for now.

  “Thank you, Epic. I hope I haven’t hurt your feelings. I know you made him, and I know that you have always had my best interest at heart. I just can’t say the same for anyone else.”

  The Emjet turns south and heads for Phoenix as I relinquish the controls to Epic. It’s getting late and tomorrow is a big day. Another one.

  Tia will be laid to rest and it’s my last chance to say goodbye.

  When did this life get so freaking hard?

  THREE

  After I returned to my apartment in the city, Kate picked me up to go shopping for a black dress. When I moved out of the Spire, the only stuff I really had to take with me were books, computers, and a handful of outfits, which were mostly pajamas.

  And all of Luke’s clothing he left in the room. Including the black cowboy hat he wore off-duty. I couldn’t bring myself to leave any of that behind. I kept the hat and a few of my favorite shirts, the rest I sent to his remaining family. Not that they even know who I was. We never did get to meet.

  I take a deep breath and push those thoughts away. I don’t have time for them right now…

  I also don’t have time to go shopping, but since when does Kate ever listen to me? I’ve never enjoyed shopping. Kate loves it, but for me... trying clothes on is a workout. Not that I don’t like to wear nice things, but getting them on is physically exhausting.

  Which is why I’m sitting in a posh, by-appointment-only boutique watching Kate try on a dozen different outfits while the owner caters to her every whim.

  “Wouldn’t you rather have Carlos here than me?” I ask as I lean back in my chair and she shuffles into the dressing room to try on another outfit.

  “Amelia, you’ve only been back a week and I’ve hardly seen you. Other than your bombshell announcement that you’ve up and quit the business, we’ve barely spoken. I know this is all stressful to you and I’m not going to let you disappear into a project. You need your friends,” Kate says as she tries on a wide-brimmed hat.

  “I hate funerals,” I mutter.

  “Me too. But I loved Tia,” she says through the curtain that encloses the little booth she’s changing in. “We owe it to her. Hell, if it wasn’t for her, the Protectors would be dead and ISO-1 would have won the day.”

  I nod. She can feel that I understand. I just... want to go home and curl up in a ball for a few months. “What the heck is with them, anyway? Why did they decide we were target number one?”

  Kate swishes the curtain aside and steps out in a magnificent, mid-thigh black dress with knee-high black boots. The bottom fans out around her and looks perfectly natural. It’s formal enough to work for
a funeral, especially if she were to add in a black hat.

  “We’re still working on that. My contacts in the agency,” she lowers her voice as she shoots a look to the owner, who is busy picking out other outfits for her to try on, “tell me that they have exploded as a criminal agency in the last few years. They may have eyed the Arizona border as a prime trafficking sight and wanted to either keep us distracted, or take us out of play...”

  “Still, they had to have spent a mint on bribery to get the FBI to come after us like that. Doesn’t seem like that would be a good return on investment to simply remove us from play. We don’t even patrol the border.”

  Kate nods, “True, but what else could it be?”

  I shrug. “I have no idea. It just... when Agent Brown interrogated us... it felt personal. You know?”

  She smiles, running a finger along my face and lifting my chin to look in my eyes. “Amelia, not everything is a conspiracy against you.”

  I laugh. “No. Just everything we’ve encountered so far.”

  She frowns, sticks her tongue out at me, then twirls around to push me toward the dressing room.

  “I’ve got my outfit. Your turn. We only have four hours before we have to be at the funeral home.”

  Four hours? “You’re kidding, right? I’m just going to say yes to the first outfit he hands me, whatever it is.”

  “Then you’ll be attending Tia’s ceremony in your underwear...”

  Three hours later we are in the back of one of the black SUVs the Protectors’ security and staff use.

  O’Brien happens to be our driver. He has worked as the head of security for the Protectors since the first time I met him outside the Spire—when Pedric Matahal tried to incite that crowd to violence. He’s a good man with an impeccable work ethic, and he’s paid handsomely to drive us around.

  He’s dressed sharp, in a black suit with a deep red tie. He’s also wearing the modified glasses so he’s in contact with Epic or Milton.

  “Kate,” I say leaning toward her in the back, “what’s going on?”

  She raises her eyes from her phone and feigns ignorance. She’s a fantastic liar—and I mean that as a compliment—but I know her all too well.

  I throw a chin nod toward O’Brien.

  “Oh. With everything that has happened in the last year, the staff wanted to make sure you were safe, that’s all.”

  I lean forward and squeeze his shoulder. “Thank you,” I say.

  O’Brien doesn’t say anything, but he looks in the mirror and nods. He’s the strong silent type for sure.

  It takes a lot of the edge off of me, knowing the staff of the Spire think about me like this. And it’s unexpectedly emotional. I take a minute and look out the window as we drive, trying not to cry. It’s going to be that kind of week.

  There aren’t a lot of cars when we arrive. Tia wasn’t well known here, and she wasn’t an official member of the Protectors. I call this a funeral but it’s more of a memorial service. Her actual funeral will take place in Buenos Aires, where she’ll be buried. I know her mom lives there, but I’ve never met the woman.

  It only takes Kate a second to pull my chair out of the car. I let her lift me into it. She’s so flipping strong compared to a normal human that it isn’t even a challenge for her to pick me up. I see O’Brien raise an eyebrow at how effortlessly she lifts me. Of course, he’s seen her use her powers before, but Kate just doesn’t look like the typical strong person. It’s not like Kate can lift a car or anything—she’s just as strong as a person her size could possibly be, which is pretty strong.

  It’s hot out here, and the outfit she picked out for me, while stylish, will be better once we’re inside. I’m sweating by the time we make it into the air-conditioned building.

  Like a lot of people in South and Central America—like my mom—Tia was Catholic. I made sure to respect those wishes with arrangements.

  Once we’re in the chapel we make our way to the team area. The first row is empty, reserved for family who aren’t here. The second and third rows are for close friends, us. The funeral director seats us three rows back. The whole team is there, even Carlos. However, he isn’t sitting with the team; it’s important to him that his family doesn’t find out he’s the Protector. I can respect that. He has every right to be here as my friend and Kate’s boyfriend.

  Kate parks me on the outside of the third row, locks my wheels in, then sits down next to me. A few seconds later Carlos scoots by to sit down on the other side of her. He slides his hand into hers as they sit. She squeezes his shoulder and rests her head against his for a moment.

  Whatever happened while I was gone, seems to have escalated their relationship. I look away though, as it is a painful reminder of what I’ve lost.

  The casket is closed and a large picture of Tia, from when we were on the boat down in Costa Rica, is placed on a stand with a large wreath. The actual burial will take place in Buenos Aires, not here. It’s just not practical to fly the whole team down there, not to mention that Argentina and I aren’t exactly simpatico at the moment.

  A local priest comes out and explains the nature of Catholic beliefs and their thoughts on death. Then he says a prayer over the picture and invites everyone to say a prayer themselves.

  Then it’s over. And she’s still gone. And there isn’t anything I can do about it.

  “How’s Frank doing?” Carlos asks me once we are in the other room. It’s a small area with refreshments, it’s more relaxed and they encourage the attendees to share good memories of the deceased.

  “Parker? Fine, I guess. He’s with his family. Still recovering from his injuries though,” I say.

  “Have you thought about... uh, asking him to fix this?” he asks with a nod toward the room we just left.

  I shake my head. “I hurt him, badly, when we came forward. According to him he can’t access his abilities. It might be physical, or it could be some kind of mental block. Or a side effect of us going back before there were powers. I don’t know… and he’s not interested in finding out. He just wants to spend time with his family. I can’t really blame him for that,” the last part comes out in a whisper.

  “It’s not your fault, Niña. You did what you had to do. Pythia told me—”

  I shoot him a glare I don’t think I’ve ever used on him before. I hate that woman. She’s done nothing but manipulate me from the moment we met. He hesitates. “She... uh, she told me that it had to happen that way and couldn’t have happened any other way.”

  “That’s easy for her to say, since she knew what was going to happen before it did. She knew, Carlos; she knew the moment I first met her—and she said nothing. She knew Sydney would die. She knew you would become the Protector. She knew Luke...” I stop as my throat closes up.

  “It’s not your fault,” he repeats in a whisper.

  I shake my head. “Yes, it is. All of it. Everyone who died is still dead and there isn’t anything I can do about it. Tia is gone, Luke is gone, and I’ll never get them back.” My heart pounds in my chest and I want to scream. I claw at the armrests of my chair. I know I should stop talking but I can’t seem to. “My armor is gone. My technology is responsible for the deaths of countless people and I... I...” I lower my voice to a whisper. “I caused everything Ericsson did. I’m the reason people have superpowers. If not for me, we would be—”

  “All dead,” he interrupts me. Carlos takes a knee to look me in the eye. “If not for you, both Earth and Luxilla would be gone. Barren rocks, strip-mined by the Th’un. I don’t think you should lose sight of the good you’ve done too.”

  I shake my head. “It isn’t a scale, Carlos, the good here, the bad there... it’s just me. And only me. And I don’t know how I can live with what I’ve done.”

  A flash of worry crosses his face. “Amelia... you’ll get through this. You have us. We’re here for you.”

  “Thank you. That means a lot. But... but this is something no one can help me with. Not even my best friends.
”

  I turn away from him and wheel myself to the exit. I’m so wrapped up in my own thoughts and misery that I miss what Tessa says. I’m halfway out the door when her words catch up to me. I jerk the wheels around and roll back to her.

  “Tessa, what did you just say?”

  She has a somber look on her face and I know this is as hard for her as the rest of us. She looks around at the other Protectors for a second like she doesn’t know what I’m asking.

  “Which part?” she asks quietly.

  I think for a second, trying to recall exactly what I thought I heard her say.

  “You said something about using your powers...”

  She nods. “Right, as Tia... as she faded away, I tried to use my powers to—”

  I slash my hand through the air and slam it down on the arm of my chair. This is the first good news I’ve heard since I returned.

  “Amelia, why are you grinning?” Fleet asks.

  “Because, my fast friend, no one told me the specifics of Tia’s ‘death.’ Just that she died. I didn’t ask because I’ve been too wrapped up in my own things. But...”

  “But what?” Tessa asks.

  “But, no body! She may only be mostly dead,” I say with a grin.

  I spin myself around and head for the door. “Carlos, I need a lift. Like right freaking now!”

  FOUR

  We land with a thump outside of Delphi, in the Greek ruins of the Oracle. Carlos holds me easily in one arm, including my folded wheelchair. He only has his armor on, no shield; he needed a free hand for me and one for his spear.

  “Are you sure, Amelia? You were just saying how much you don’t like her,” he says as he puts the chair down for me.

  “Carlos, when have I ever stayed mad at anyone but myself?”

  He smiles, and boy do I miss that smile sometimes. We don’t hang out nearly as much as we used to.

  “Okay, but be nice. She’s gone through a lot too, okay?”

  “I’ll play nice.” I pat him on his broad shoulder. “Kate?” I say into my comms. “We’re here.” With a pop of displaced air she appears next to us. Somehow she has managed to find the time to switch into her costume; a black form-fitting suit with enough pouches and pockets to carry an armies worth of gear. She isn’t carrying her guns or swords, though. Not that she would need those today. Plus, she’s always got her weapons in her arm if she needs them.